Mike's 36 Bow Front Mixed Reef

[Killingtime]

Well, here we go.

I started off years ago with freshwater fish. I really enjoyed having an aquarium and the challenges it brought to the table. From Tetras and plastic plants to Angels and fully planted tanks with CO to larger tanks with Cichlids and their brackish water needs. I think I ran the gambit with freshwater but could never pull the trigger to move to salt water. It seemed all too expensive and too much of a gamble to get into to. I'm finally in a place in life where I felt comfortable enough to just go for it. I officially started this tank in March of 2021 so some of the following posts will be backtracking a bit.


I'm going to continue to edit and keep my stock list here as up to date as possible.

Fish
-Yellow Tang
-Clownfish x2 (Gladiator and True Percula)
-Pajama Cardinal
-Royal Gramma
-Blue Neon Goby
-Blue Mandarin

As far as coral;
-Tahitian Treat Zoa
-Scrambled Eggs Zoa
-Fiji Bam Bam Zoa
-JF Butt Monkey Zoa
-Cornbred Nuclear Death Zoa
-KH Sunburst Zoa
-Chiquita Zoa
-JF Franky's Acid Trip Zoa
-WWC AOI Zoa
-Orange Oxide Zoa
-JF Everlasting Gobstopper Zoa
-Peanut Butter Zoa
-Armor of God Zoa
-WWC Ultimate Chaos Zoa
-JF Fairy Tales Zoa
-WWC Space Monster Zoa
-Magician Zoa
-Red Spotted Mushroom
-Super Red Mushroom
-Orange Ricordia
-Pink Floyd Chalice
-ORA Green Spongodes Montipora
-Pro Coral Rainbow Acropora
-JF Enchanted Forest Birdsnest
-Metallic Green Star Polyps
-Teal Duncan
-Orange Pavona
-Flame Boy Favia
-WWC Toxic Pool Favia
-PPE Favia
-Rainbow Favia (I think)
-WWC Moonstruck Psammocora
-JF John Deere Psammocora
-Neon Green Toadstool Leather
-Purple Tip Frogspawn
-Blue Tip Torch
-Purple Lantern Torch
-Gold Hammer
-Lavender Hammer
-Purple Tip Hammer
-WWC Atom Splitter Branching Hammer

 

[Killingtime]

The building of the stand.

This whole project was SUPPOSED to just be simple. Get an aquarium set up from Petco, use a higher end canister filter and we are off to the races.
LOLOLOLOL..... nope.

I did get the 36g bow front from them but the stand was particle board and no chance I was going to trust that. I built the stand out of cabinet grade 3/4 oak plywood. I followed the basic design of the original stand...just sturdier. After a couple coats of black stain and some hardware that the wife picked out, we had the start to our set up.

 

[Killingtime]

The Aquascape...

 

[Killingtime]

After going 3 months with the canister filter, which was working fine, just a pain in the rear to keep up with. I decided to go with a sump. Unfortunately, I had very little room for a sump inside my stand. My solution...put a sump in the basement!

Another project! The wife is going to kill me

I immediately started researching return pumps, head heights, flow restriction, skimmer requirements and refugiums and the list goes on. I decided that since I know how I am, I will be getting a bigger tank in the very near future I want to oversize the sump a bit. Trying to save a little money I wanted to go with the sump kits. Easy enough, grab a tank, silicone in some baffles and we're good.
nope...
I get to Petco and they are having a sale on tanks. Perfect! I look at the 20 long that I had planned on initially. But there sits a perfectly good 40 breeder for now about the same price I was going to pay for this 20 long. Did I need a 40 gallon sump for a 36 gallon display tank. No. Did I want it and convince myself it was a worthwhile investment into my future tank upgrade. Solid Yes.
A few days go by and my baffle kit comes in from BRS. I was excited to get the baffles in and have the silicone cure before getting the sump into operation so I installed the baffles. No problem, looked great. I spoke to a rep from Aqueon about the 40 breeder tanks and the use of tempered glass. No sir, we do not use tempered glass on those tanks. Awesome! I'll be able to drill the bottom and have the return pull as low in the sump as possible. I wanted this because with the well oversized return pump I bought, I was nervous of it pulling in air when in operation. I watch all the videos possible on drilling glass. I'm virtually an expert at this point. So off to do the deed...

Moral of the story...don't trust the Aqueon Rep and don't drill the bottom of 40 breeder tanks.

Oh, and yes it was as fun as you would think to remove the newly installed baffles after the bottom popped.

 

[Killingtime]

I picked up another 40 breeder and drilled the side with success. I then installed the baffles. I learned my lesson the first time. I have a sump tank!

Now comes the real fun.

I broke down the display tank, removed all the rock and inverts. Thankfully I didn't have fish yet. Well, I had a few Chromis in a QT tank waiting for the install of the sump but I had a scare of Uronema. They didn't have it (Great big thanks to Jay for the diagnosis) but after researching the disease I didn't want to take chances so they went back to the LFS. But I digress. With wanting to limit space behind the tank and stand I was able to run the plumbing down through the stand, through the floor and into the basement.

This also allowed easier access to the gate valve to tune the overflow. Bonus!

I forgot to mention the stand to which the sump will rest. I picked up some extra 2x4s from my work which helped out tremendously. With the lumber prices being absolutely NUTS right now, there was no way I wanted to pay $9 for a 2x4x8'. I unfortunately wasn't as lucky to be able to score plywood as well. I was forced to pay up for plywood. I got to Home Depot, the price for 3/4 OSB was $85/sheet. For junk plywood!! No Way!! I walked further down the isle and found 3/4 Oak plywood for $63/sheet. ????? Made no sense to me, but it looked nicer and was cheaper so it came home with me. Because we live in an older home and I didn't want to overload the floor joists, I built the stand from floor to ceiling to brace the joists from the tank weight above.

I need to do some cable management and clean it up a bit but all in all, I'm happy with it...for now

 

[Mhamilton0911]

Great job! I love the stand you built, your rock work looks nice! What's your plan for stocking?

 

[Killingtime]

Great job! I love the stand you built, your rock work looks nice! What's your plan for stocking?

Thanks!

So far in fish I've gotten;
-Yellow Tang
-Clownfish
-Firefish
-Pajama Cardinal
-Watchman Goby
-Royal Gramma

As far as coral;
-Acan
-GSP
-Purple spotted mushroom
-Red velvet mushroom
-No name Zoas
-Toadstool leather
-Duncan
-Torch

I'll continue to update and post pics as soon as I can.

 

[Killingtime]

 

[Killingtime]

And some of the fishies...

 

[Mhamilton0911]

Really nice looking fish.

 

[Killingtime]

Update to the build

I've added a second light. The recommended spread wasn't quite enough to get good coverage. I'm a big fan of the Kessil lights

 

[Killingtime]

I just realized that I never posted a list with the current components

Tank - 36g bow front
Overflo - EShopps M
Stand - Custom
Cover - Custom
Lights - 2x Kessil 360x
Pumps - Jebao SOW 4&8
Rock - 50lb Marco dry rock
Sand - 40lb CaribSea OG Grade Ocean Direct Live

Sump - 40g breeder
Baffles - Fiji Cube
Skimmer - Reef Octopus Elite 150
Refugium - 10+lb Marco rock
Refugium light - Feit Electric 32w Full Spectrum
Heater - Finnex Ti 300w heater
Heater Control - Inkbird

QT Tank - (3)10 g tanks (2 for fish QT/Med, 1 for Coral)
Heater - (3) Eheim Jager 50
Heater Control -(3) Inkbird
Filter - (3) Marineland 150
Lighting - (1) Kessil A80 (coral) & (1) shop light (fish)

 

[Killingtime]

New addition to the tank. A Skunk cleaner shrimp! He's been in tank for a few days and still in hiding. I know everything in the tank has a personality and will do what they want to do but I've never seen anyone talk about a Skunk cleaner that isn't out and in your face 24/7. Anyone else have a shy cleaner shrimp?

 

[Killingtime]

Cleaner shrimp is out but has made his home on the backside of the rocks. At least he's out. But now that he's out, the Yellow Tang has taken notice and they have become...less than friends. Not sure why, never heard of that before.

The wife has talked me into another addition

 

[Killingtime]

I just realized it's been a while since updating!

 

[Killingtime]

 

[Killingtime]

Just wanted to post some progress pics.

The Flame Boi Favia has never been more extended! Super exciting!

JF Butt Crack Zoas (plus a few Nuclear Death Zoa hitchhickers) are TANKS. Always extended and happy

The no name Petco Acan sprouted a ring of new heads a couple weeks ago and is doing great too!

The only issues I'm fighting with at the moment is a case of low Alk and a sponge trying to take over my Atom Splitter Hammer. I have an order of All For Reef coming in to take care of the Alk so I hope to get my parameters steadied. I'm still trying to figure out what I am going to do to get rid of the sponge.

 

[Killingtime]

It's been a while since I've updated. I thought it was best to jump in with a full tank shot.

 

[Killingtime]

I also started a frag/grow out tank where I have a bunch of newer corals. I'll get pics of that once I get the sump area cleaned up and more presentable....as much as a sump area can be at least

 

[Killingtime]

Pink Floyd Chalice

WWC AOI Zoa

JF Everlasting Gobstoppers Zoa (very "stalky" for a zoa)

Flame Boy Favia

Scrambled Eggs Zoa

JF Franky's Acid Trip with new babies